Rapture
by pepperdadog
Summary: Blue Dragon/Bioshock crossover: The gang get stuck in the world of Rapture and need the help of some strange friends to escape. Rated for bloody scenes, swearing, and the use of drugs and alcohol. Chapter five up.
1. Welcome to Rapture

**This is a Blue Dragon/Bioshock crossover. I used the video game for Blue Dragon's personalities, but I'm adding in Bouquet and making the shadows talk.**

**Warnings: Romance attempts that were written by someone with no experience in the romance genre, lots of swearing, and violence.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon or Bioshock; they are property of their wonderful creators. I do own any OC who appears later, unless marked otherwise.**

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The aircraft shook violently from the storm, making Kluke look up from her book when the cabin lights flickered. Looking out the window, her vision went from lost in the darkness to being blinded by the lightning that erupted like bullets. It was as though they were flying through a dance club.

"We're not going to crash, are we?" Bouquet nervously touched Kluke's shoulder from the seat next to her.

"Zola said the pilots had flown in bad weather before, so I'm sure we'll be fine." Kluke and Bouquet didn't usually get along, but the situation was unnerving and both girls had butterflies in their stomachs.

Jiro, Shu, and Marumaro were arguing over something stupid towards the front and Zola was marking up a map on one of the tables. Kluke had to admit the plane was rather pleasant, considering the weather it was flying in: it had a few chairs that could be adjusted how you liked, with a pull-down table between each row, a small kitchenette area, and the open space for standing. Kluke had chosen one of the seats in the back near a window as to not be disturbed by the commotion the boys were making, but as things escalated Bouquet was frequently next to her asking if everything was going to be alright. Zola had reassured them all that the pilots had experience with unruly weather when the storm had first started, but that had been when there was still the orange glow of the sun behind the clouds as it set.

_Bouquet's freaking-out has rubbed off on you, get a hold of yourself!_ Kluke mentally slapped herself and averted her attention back to her book.

"Hey guys, which one of us is stronger?" Kluke looked up at Shu, Jiro, and Marumaro; all of whom were glaring at each other and trying to act bigger.

"Shu is, of course!" Bouquet giggled, her fear forgotten.

Kluke felt her stomach twist into a knot at the other girl's annoying habit of sucking up to Shu. She thought for a second before answering, "Zola could beat all of your sorry butts."

Zola laughed a little to herself as the boys complained about Kluke's answer. She was just as disturbed by Bouquet's behaviors as Kluke, and preferred not to talk to her or listen too much to her gibberish. Kluke, on the other hand, at least though for herself, and could crack an interesting joke once in a while.

"She's right you know! Lady Zola could beat both of you!" Jiro and Shu both knocked Marumaro upside the head.

"Well…you're right; she probably could, but not both of us at the same time! She could beat Marumaro no problem, he'd be to busy drooling over her to fight." Shu teased.

_Like you and Bouquet?_ Jiro rolled his eyes as the other two started fighting.

There was a huge flash of lightening that illuminated every inch of the cabin and shook it so violently that things and people fell over. Everyone froze as if someone had pushed a giant pause button and turned very slowly to the front of the plane where the captains were. The door was thrown open and the two men supposedly flying the plane fell to the floor screaming and on fire. Kluke and Shu stood and rushed to the front as the others stared in surprise, but when they got close to the men there was an explosion that caught them full in the face and sent them flying. The plane hurtled into a dive and the group was tossed about.

Jiro could feel the oxygen rush out of his lungs as he crashed into the chair in front of him before toppling over it and closer to the fire. When he looked around he could see he had landed next to Kluke, who had smacked her head against the wall and was cradling it in her arms. The dive steepened and she began to slip away from him and towards the spreading fire. Hooking one arm around the chair he had flipped over, he hooked the other round Kluke's waist and held tight as the angle of the plane became almost ninety degrees. His arm felt like it could pop out of its socket from the strain of supporting two bodies.

Unfortunately the pain did not go away. The plane hit water and Jiro – still clutching Kluke - was propelled through the weakened ceiling and into the night sky and all the rain that pelted them in their brief, unsupported flight. The momentum from hitting the water pulled them down several yards, and Jiro had to drag Kluke's dead weight to the surface. When they did break free of the ocean's attempts to drown them they were faced with the problem of staying afloat. The plane had almost disintegrated when it smashed into the water, luckily, and pieces were scattered about that were still afloat.

Jiro screamed in pain as he pulled himself up onto a part of the wing. It was still hot from the fire, but he concentrated on keeping his and Kluke's heads above so they could breathe.

With his breath coming out in large puffs, Jiro began to feel a chilling pain shoot up through his body to his mind. The water they'd landed in was barely over freezing, and he wasn't sure how long they could stay before hypothermia set in. He scanned the horizon and noticed a lighthouse looming over them. It looked a ways off but he kicked along with determination atop the make-shift floatation device. The water burned in spots from where the gas and oil spilled from the plane, creating a maze of fire, and it took Jiro some time to navigate through. Once he passed the fire, the lighthouse came into view, much closer than he had expected, made visible thanks to some old lights that lit up a set of stairs near its base. Already on the stairs was Zola, with Shu asleep next to her. By the time he arrived he was exhausted to the point that he could have fallen asleep if he had gills to breathe with for when his head dipped under, and there wasn't the small matter of his extra passenger. Zola took Kluke and laid her next to Shu, giving Jiro room to crawl next to them and rest.

"Try to keep warm, and don't fall asleep." Zola instructed; Jiro grumbled and tried to bring his dead limbs back to life by rubbing them raw.

After a few minutes, Zola spotted Bouquet swimming towards them with Marumaro in tow. As she got closer she began to slow down and sink so Zola had to dive in to save the two. Pulling them back to the stairs, Zola barely made it up the bottom steps herself before collapsing. Within moments, Jiro found he was the only one awake. He kept warming himself for almost another hour before the Sleeping Beauties began to stir.

"Wh-what happened?" Jiro helped Kluke sit up as Shu rubbed his eyes.

"We crashed. All of us managed to get to the miraculously placed lighthouse though. How're you feeling?" Jiro pressed a hand to their heads. They felt cool, their lips purple and chapped, and their skin was pale.

Jiro helped the two stay awake talking to them, but their eyes seemed to droop in spite of his efforts. After a while the others began to wake up, and when they were fully awake they headed up the stairs to the lighthouse. The doors were slightly ajar, but large and heavy, so Jiro and Shu had to force them open. It was dark inside but some lights flickered on when they walked in, casting an eerie glow on a golden statue of a man standing under an old moth-eaten banner that was coated in a layer – or twenty – of dust. The only words they could make out were: No…, Only Man.

"What is this place? Hey!" Marumaro stumbled as the doors slammed shut behind him.

"Oh no! First the plane, Now this?" Bouquet pounded on the doors in frustration.

"I guess we go down." Kluke pointed to an archway with stairs.

The group felt their way through the darkness and descended the stairs, stopping when they reached a landing. There was another set of stairs leading down, but the room at the bottom was utterly black.

"Let's keep going." Zola drew her sword and started down.

As she reached another landing, more lights clicked on, as though they were on motion sensors. Two more sets of stairs curved around a large round object in the center of the room. Keeping her back to the wall, Zola inched down the stairs carefully; only after she was sure the area was safe did she wave the others to follow. The object resembled a circular elevator, large enough for them to fit, with worn-out seats and a lever as its centerpiece. Marumaro was the first to enter, followed by Bouquet who was dragging Shu, then Kluke, Jiro, and finally Zola. When they were in, Shu noticed a small plaque next to the lever.

"What's a 'bathysphere'?" Shu wiped grime off the plaque.

"Who knows? Hopefully it'll take us somewhere we can get help, though." Zola reached to pull the lever, but stopped to look at everyone else. "Ready?"

"We're ready as we'll ever be." Marumaro and the others nodded and Zola pulled the lever.

A large glass door swung shut with a bang and a hiss as the air pressure equalized, and the bathysphere began to slowly descend. Bouquet could feel her breath catch in her throat as they passed elegant statues that held signs that marked their depths. A movie screen dragged itself across the door, and a projector was heard starting up, displaying an image of an older man sitting in a chair with a subtitle reading "Ryan". The screen was very old and covered in holes, and the man's face was torn out. An old recording began to play and the man's voice echoed through the bathysphere.

"I'm Andrew Ry–yan…." The recording skipped and began to fade in and out, dragging the words around like a stick through mud, "…sweat…-ashing-...God…-cow…the im–mpos–ssible…" The screen ripped back to where it came with a crash, allowing the bathysphere's occupants to watch in amazement as the mini-sub slowly traveled through, what appeared to be, a run-down under water city. "…Rapture…your city..."

The voice stopped as something in one of the glass tunnels they passed under caught their eyes. It was a message scrawled hastily across the entire length of the glass in a red.

_Welcome to Hell; Population: Out for Blood_

Everyone stared in awe until the crackle of the radio brought them back to reality.

"Stupid storms in the area, been messin' with the computers again. Sayin' the bathysphere's on its way 'ere. I know 'ere ain't been contact in years, but you'd better get down there an' check anyhow. Splicers 'ave been on the move recently, an' if anyone really is comin' then they'll need all the help we can give 'em." A male voice cracked over a radio next to the door, but didn't appear to be addressing them.

"What? Why me?" Another male voice, panicked, asked the first.

"Just 'cause I told ya to is good enough reason! 'Sides, ya're closest. Hurry up; it'll be there any second!" After that the bathysphere continued its trip in silence.

"What is that?" Shu pointed towards ornate hoops that the bathysphere was headed for.

There were four of them they passed through, but the words adorning the banners over them had long since burned out or fallen off. As they passed through the last one, the bathysphere took a sudden directional change and began ascending until it breached the surface in the center of a room, a rather large place, but dimly lit such that its actual size was not apparent unless you squinted very hard. On a walkway in front of them were two shadows, one of which seemed to be backing towards them and away from the other. As the lights flicked they could hear the man's voice that had been directed by the other man to meet them.

"Please, don't hurt me, please!" The man was stumbling back in fear, his hands raised as a feeble form of protection. In a blink the other shadow lunged foreword and stabbed deep into the man's chest, causing him to scream briefly before his insides got a full tour of the outside world. This, in turn, caused everyone trapped in the stationary metal death trap to scream – excluding Zola, who stared on in shock.

"Is it someone _new_?" The remaining shadow spoke in a rasping and cracked voice that clung so desperately to any remaining strands of womanhood that it strangled the life out of them. It pressed its face flat to the glass, revealing the visage of a tortured woman, before leaping on top of the bathysphere and attempting to break in by scraping and stabbing at the metal with something sharp. She managed to wiggle the object about enough to create a crack large enough for her eye to stare down at them, but all she really did was cause a bunch of sparks to fly about the inside, shake everything around a bit, and invoke mass hysteria in its occupants.

Kluke tried to force herself into a corner but instead only managed to bury herself in Jiro, doing little more than join the screaming fest. After a few more hysterical attempts, the woman reluctantly climbed down and retreated out of sight. When the outside world was calm again, Bouquet stopped screaming and strangling Shu, who was glad for the chance to breathe, and snatched up the radio the men had talked over earlier, hoping to find the other man who wasn't dead. It instantly crackled to life in her hands and she shushed the others to hear the person on the other end.

"I don't know how you lot got down 'ere, but ya're in deep shit now. I'm Atlas, and ya can consider yaselves my new lil' project, 'cause I'm going ta keep ya alive." The bathysphere door creaked open, "Oy've still got some control 'round 'ere, but not much. Get moving and don't die, oy wanna get out just as bad as you. The bitch that killed Johnny earlier can'na be too far, so keep ya wits 'bout ya. We're gonna have ta get ya armed. My family is trapped down 'ere, the damn splicers split us up when we tried to escape, and oy've got to get them out of here."

"What are…hold on a second," Bouquet fiddled with the pieces of the radio. "What are splicers?"

"Splicers are people who thought all their little problems could be solved by hitting up some drugs. At first it was used in the surgeries to sculpt the faces and bodies however the doctors liked, then they had to take more and more to keep their looks. One thing after another an' ev'rything snowballed out of control. Now get out-a there, I don't know 'bout you, but oy'd hate to be there when that splicer ya saw earlier comes back while yer unarmed."

Unnerved by the happenings, but even worse by the thought of that hysterical woman returning, Zola and the others slowly stepped from the bathysphere and into the world of Rapture.

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**If you notice any spelling or grammar errors please tell me politely and do not make a huge fuss over it. I'm sorry it came back down, but some errors were brought to my attention and they were sending me crazy. Thanks to Inita for pointing them out for me!**

**During the recent revision I got sick of parts like Ryan's speech that were copied from the game so I…spliced them up a little. Please be honest in your reviews, I don't want a lot of "OMG, I luv it!!1!!!!" or "WTF is dis crap?!" Reviews like that are unintelligent, unnecessary, and unwanted.**

**Thank you for reading **_**Rapture**_**. Remember, Atlas is watching.**


	2. Atlas and the Sisters

**Happy back to school! I start 9****th**** grade tomorrow, wish me luck. I know these updates were slow, but there going to get slower. I've got school work, home work, marching band, volleyball, house work, family and that's just the start of it. I'm going to keep working on it, I have some grand ideas for new chapters, but I've got to get the old chapters up and running before I can work on them.**

**It is highly suggested to any reader who has already read the pre-updated version of **_**Rapture**_** to pay close attention when reading now, as the chapters (mostly in chapter 3 on) will be changing quite radically.**

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The room wasn't only creepy looking, it also smelled horrible. Zola tried not to gag as the stench of rotting bodies danced around her nose. They followed a path littered with strange things, such as old luggage, crates, and other junk no one wanted any longer. Staying close in a tight ball, they looked everywhere in case someone tried to ambush them. There was a loud cackling as the splicer from earlier leapt onto a wall not far from them, but before it could strike, a small robot flew up and shot it until it collapsed to the ground, dead. The body landed next to a doorway blocked by rubble.

"Well, that was certainly exciting." Marumaro grimaced at the twisted body.

"Great, now what do we do?" Kluke looked away from the mutilated corpse.

Atlas chimed in, "I think it dru'ped somethin', mebbee ya can use tha'."

"I have my sword," Zola said, scanning the room for the robot that had shot the splicer.

"I doubt that'll get ya through all that rubble withou' breakin' in two. Splicer may 'ave 'ad a wrench on 'im." Atlas sounded irritated that they weren't doing as he said.

"Ew, I'm not picking up something a dead person dropped!" Bouquet caught a glimpse of the grotesque thing and had to fight her last meal down.

"Dead people dinna drop thin's, thin's just fall off their unmovin' persons." They could almost hear the grin in Atlas's tone. "Hurry up, we ain't got all day!"

The splicer wore a tattered dress and cat mask, both of which were tinged red from the blood from its wounds.

Kluke, trying desperately to think of a reason to avoid going near it, was hit with an idea.

"What about our shadows? Couldn't they deal with these… things, no problem?"Everyone nodded in agreement and began to call out their shadows.

"How are ya shadows going ta … 'elp…. ya . . ." Atlas' voice trailed off, as though he had gone into shock.

"Oh my goodness, this place is horrible!" Hippopotamus, Bouquet's shadow, chattered and retreated behind the girl, who nodded in agreement.

"You're pathetic, get a hold of yourself!" Blue Dragon growled.

"Hey, leave them alone! This place gives me the chills." Shu glared up at his shadow, who merely rolled his eyes.

"I have ta say, yer shadows are amazin', but I doubt they'll be much 'elp again' splicers. They ain't known for playin' fair, so it'd be safer if ya had a back-up plan. So 'ow bout you hurry up bout getting' that wrench, eh?" Zola could swear that Atlas sounded almost anxious.

"Alright, I'll check it out." Zola walked over to the body and, sure enough, there was a wrench next to it. "Is this good enough, Atlas?"

"Fine, clear away tha' rubble an' head for higher ground. I'll be 'ere if ya need my 'elp, but it's pretty straight forward." The radio died and Bouquet slipped it into her apron pocket.

_How did he know there would be a wrench there?_ Zola wondered as she inspected the wrench, only then realizing it was covered in dried blood.

"I wish we'd never come here in the first place, this place is horrible!" Kluke started to cry as her shadow, Phoenix, laid a wing on her shoulder.

"It'll be alright, Atlas knows what's going on and is going to help us." The large bird gently brushed her beak over Kluke's cheek.

"Just you wait; that Atlas guy is going to turn out to be a total nutcase!" Minotaur, Jiro's shadow, made a circle by his ear with a finger.

"Not. Helping." Jiro glared at the embarrassed shadow as Kluke – who was crying harder – was joined by Bouquet.

There was a loud crash as Zola broke down the rubble blocking the door. "We're not accomplishing anything by standing around, we need to help Atlas' family and get out of here." She poked her head through the new opening and into a stairwell but froze when someone from the top of the stairs screamed. Killer Bat grabbed her and pulled her back through the door as a burning couch was thrown down at them.

"What was _that?_" Shu helped Zola to her feet.

"How wonderful, were making friends already!" Minotaur earned a smack upside the head from Phoenix.

"Justice will be served!" Saber Tiger slashed the couch in two; he and Marumaro rushed though the door before anyone could stop them.

"Marumaro, come back!" Kluke called Phoenix back and took off after the smallest of their party.

The others called their shadows back as well and chased the two up the stairs. At the top they could see that Kluke was trying to calm a steamed Marumaro, but he was too busy cursing the monster who threw the couch to notice. No one was paying much attention, so when the screaming mad man jumped onto Kluke's back and began strangling her, they were rather surprised. Zola was first to react, smacking the man in the head with the wrench a few times until he was knocked free of Kluke. The two stared each other down before a large thumping caused the whole room to shake; the man took the opportunity to disappear during the confusion.

"Atlas, what was that?" Bouquet pulled the radio out; there was no reply. "Can you hear that Atlas, what is it?"

Jiro blushed deeply as he ran his hands carefully over Kluke's neck as he checked for any serious bruises; he was fighting with his inner teenager to keep his hormones under control. The hardest part was how Shu was watching him, daring him to mess something up. Bouquet was also watching them, pushing herself into Shu's arms, and making sure that Kluke could see. With his hands where they were, Jiro could feel the growl Kluke wrestled back down to the pit of her stomach.

"Guys, look," The others followed to where Marumaro was pointing; from another section of the room a figure closed in on them until it was slinking around the edge of the shadows.

Marumaro was half expecting it to be another splicer so, when a tiny girl skipped out, he almost laughed. She skipped around for a few seconds before turning to stare right at them.

"Um, hi, where's your mommy kiddo?" When Shu crouched down to the girl's height her eyes got large and she began to shake.

"I wouldn'a do tha' if I was you." Atlas' voice crackled. "Nuu back a way, very slowly laddie."

"What?" No one was prepared for what happened next.

The little girl let out an ear splitting scream and Shu found himself embedded in the wall when something large crashed into him at breakneck speed. It looked as though a sumo wrestler had climbed into an old fashioned diving suit, a large red light shone from a port hole, and a huge drill attached to their arm. The girl was so tiny compared to it that, when she retreated behind it, she seemed to vanish entirely.

"Get 'um Mister B! Rip them to shreds!" The delighted child hopped eagerly from foot to foot.

"What's wrong with her?" Bouquet stared at the girl, startled by the inhuman way her large yellow eyes glowed against filthy skin.

Shu yelped and dove out of the way as "Mister B" slammed into the wall where he'd been moments ago. He retreated back to the others as the thing got ready to charge again. This time when it charged it didn't aim at Shu – who jumped away in a panic anyhow – but at Zola. She dove for cover and opened a clear path to Jiro, who was sent flying. An audible crack could be heard when he collided with the wall. He slumped to the ground but otherwise didn't move, so the creature turned its attention to Bouquet, who was still trying to get through to Atlas.

"Bouquet, look out!" Shu tackled her as the thing charged again. When they stopped rolling, Shu found himself straddling her.

"Oh Shu, I knew you loved me!" Shu would have been blushing and yelling that it was a mistake if the thing hadn't turned around.

_I'll tell her off later._ He thought, while pulling her out of the thing's path once again.

There was a chorus of high pitched beeps as five robots, the same as one that had killed the splicer earlier, flew into the room and began shooting the monster. This was enough of a distraction for the group to hide behind some rubble.

"What about Jiro?" Kluke pointed back behind the thing where Jiro was struggling to sit up as the little girl watched him with immense curiosity and giggled at his discomfort.

"We'll have to hope that those robots don't hit him by accident." Zola followed the bots' every movement.

"Wait, why are we watching? We should be helping!" Shu ran out from the hiding place, summoning Blue Dragon, and diving headfirst into the battle.

"No, you'll only put yourself in danger as well!" Zola chased after him, calling Killer Bat. Kluke and Marumaro followed suit, but Bouquet kept on yelling at the radio.

They helped in the attack on the creature and soon it could barely stand on its own; the remaining robot shot it, successfully toppling the giant. Running past the dead monster and weeping girl, Kluke crouched by Jiro's side and began checking him over to make sure he was alright. Jiro, who was flushed a deep red to his distaste, gently pushed her hands away, assuring her that he was fine.

"Mister Bubbles, why won't you move? Please Mister B get up, get up!" All eyes turned to the girl; her tiny head lay in the monster's open palm, delicate hands running over fingers larger than her whole arm, her body shaking from her sobs.

"Atlas, what was that? Please answer me!" Bouquet held the radio to her lips, eyes never flickering from the scene in front of her.

"Ah, I see ya've met a Little Sister. Better grab the thin' before it 'scapes." The girl had made a break for it and was attempting to pull herself up into a portal in the wall that was just out of her reach, but Zola walked over and plucked her up.

"No! No, put me down! Mister Bubbles, help me!" Her screams were heartbreaking as she cried for the unmoving suit to save her.

"Ya've got ta kill it to get its ADAM. Ya need ta do it fast - it's quieter that way - so just stab yer hands in an' grab the parasite on its stomach. " Atlas said over the cries, Bouquet stared at the radio in horror.

"You want us to _kill_ her? You're crazy! She's a little girl! What could we do with her if she was dead? At least alive we can try to get her out of here." Harsh laughter crackled over the radio.

"ADAM is wha' Rapture runs on, ya'll need all ya can get ta survive. That thing is no little girl, not any more, it's a monster. Like all the other Sisters, she was plucked up off the streets and taken from her family to become an ADAM processin' plant. The doctors attached'a parasite to her stomach that filters ADAM from blood, so this 'little girl' goes 'round suckin' unprocessed ADAM from corpses," Atlas explained.

"But, it's not like she turned into this by _choice_, there has to be a way to save her." Marumaro held one of the girl's blond braids in his palm. "It looks like someone put a lot of time into braiding her hair; does someone take care of her?"

"The only people who can get near a Little Sister are her Big Daddy and an Older Sister."

"What's an Older Sister?" Kluke asked worriedly. "It won't attack us like the Big Daddy did, will it?"

"It's inevitable since you've got hold of that Little Sister. Older Sisters are a backup plan, of sorts, 'case the Little Sisters dinna work, kind of like a second thought. They're just Little Sisters that changed when they were older, turned out ta be cheaper since they dinna require a Big Daddy to protect 'em. There be only abou' five – prob'ly less – left, but there are two on this floor. They're nasty little buggers at times, over protective ta Hell, and a damn load stronger. In hindsight, it prob'ly weren't a good idea ta give 'em plasmids…"

The girl seemed to know they were talking about her and screamed and thrashed harder, even resorting to biting hands and fingers that got too close.

"May I hold her?" Bouquet handed Kluke the radio and took the girl carefully from Zola, holding her gently and rocking her as the girl began to tire.

"Wow Bouquet, where'd you learn to take care of kids like that?" Shu peeked over her shoulder as the Sister caught her second wind and thrashed out with all her might.

"Lots of parents would come to the restaurant I worked at; I watched how they held the younger kids. Hopefully she'll wear out before we do." Bouquet grimaced as the girl began biting on her arms.

They took turns holding her until she finally fell asleep. Once she was no longer a threat they took a minute to clean up the cuts and scratches she had inflicted upon them. For something so small she had a healthy set of lungs, and nails that would put a hand model to shame.

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**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Just send me a message or review! (Though the later is preferred…)**

**A word of the wise: Avoid hormonal male teenage splicers.**


	3. Sing a Silly Song

**Even though this has been edited….. I would still like to make a special shout out to a very nice person that inspired me to finish this chapter's first version.**

**THANK YOU YAMADORI!!!**

**You were so nice to me when I reviewed your stories and it made me want to work harder. Anyone who hasn't read Yamadori's fanfictions needs to check them out! An excellent one is **_**"Troubles on White Day"**_**.**

**WARNING: This chapter underwent some major changes so returning readers may want to re-read it!**

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Kluke smiled as Jiro struggled to carry the Sister, shuffling her around every few minutes, and Bouquet's nagging didn't seem to help any.

"No, no, you've got her head down too low; keep it elevated." Bouquet lectured as she impatiently waited for him to adjust.

Shu, too, found it amusing how flustered Jiro was, and glad to escape Bouquet's constant fawning. Jiro failed to see the humor in his situation. Zola and Marumaro weren't paying any mind to the scene behind them; they were more concerned with where to go. They had stopped at a split in the path and couldn't decide which turn to take. One route went down a set of poorly lit stairs, the walls covered in what was most likely blood, and a strange laughing sound echoed up. The other way led down a long hall, the lighting was poor as it reflected off a pool of water that covered the floor, and there were pieces of old furniture floating about. Zola figured that it was at least a foot or so deep. They turned back to the group.

"It's a close call, but I say we take this one." Zola gestured to the hall filled with water.

"Can we switch now, please? I'm not sure how much more of this I can take." Jiro was, of course, referring to Bouquet, but she didn't catch it.

"Well, if you can't handle carrying a little girl, I'll do it." Bouquet took the Sister, who stirred slightly at the movement, from a flustered Jiro as they began down the hall.

Jiro dropped back behind Shu and Kluke, muttering to them under his breath, "I can't see how you put up with it Shu, the girl's a menace."

"It could be worse. Usually she won't let me go." Shu smiled, trying to lift his friends' spirits; Jiro grinned back, but Kluke stiffened and walked ahead.

"At least you have a girl that likes you, I feel like a third wheel." Jiro sighed.

"You're not, so get over it." Shu gently punched his best friend's shoulder, "Besides, we're guys, girls aren't supposed to make sense."

"True, but still..." They kept their voices low; the last thing they wanted was another splicer to jump out and surprise them.

The hall was in horrible shape; apart from the furniture there were quite a few odd bottles floating about, the tiles on the wall were cracked and falling off, and it was impossible to see the floor through the murky water. Zola was having second thoughts about choosing this way, but she figured the water was safer than what ever the demonic laughing was down the stairs. The feeling of her stomach dropping to her feet alerted her that something was wrong. She signaled the others to stop and listened carefully as the echo as their sloshing died down. The hall was silent except for the sound of water dripping, and then someone not far off began singing a sad, dark tune.

"_Quiet little baby, don't say a word._

_Mamma's going to find you the Shocking Bird._

_And if that Shocking Bird do die,_

_Don't you ever start to cry._

_For Mamma will have to kill_

_You my child; my heart hold still,_

_For if you leave me now I fear,_

_I'll have to kill them all my dear."_

Chancing a glimpse around the corner Zola could see the silhouette of a woman hunched over a baby carriage. Alarmed, she motioned for the others to retreat quietly. They were almost clear of the water when Shu tripped and fell with a loud splash.

"Who's there?" The singing woman skidded around the corner, eyes wild behind her rabbit mask.

"Take cover!" Zola scooped Shu up and threw him behind an overturned desk. The others followed suit.

Jiro shoved Kluke and Bouquet behind an overturned couch and crouched down by them. Much to their horror, they saw that the Sister was wide-eyed. Bouquet latched a hand over her mouth before she could scream. Across the hall, Marumaro crouched behind a garbage can that hardly hid him. They couldn't see where Shu and Zola were.

Marumaro waited a moment before sneaking a peak, regretting so instantly. As soon as his head was out the woman, or rather the splicer, aimed a large pistol and fired in his direction, nearly destroying the can.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." She crooned, "Mamma's thought she heard baby cry." Shu peeked through a hole in the desk he trembled behind; the splicer was headed straight for him and Zola.

He looked to Zola to see if she had a plan, but she was staring straight past him. Not far off was a door that was open a crack so a strange object could stick through. Suddenly the object went flying, embedding itself deep in the splicer's shoulder. She screamed and raced towards them, but another object cut her run short as it sank an inch into the her forehead. When the splicer went down, Shu recognized the objects as poorly-crafted arrows. The breath caught in his chest as a boy that resembled a smaller splicer slipped through the door and crouched by the dead body.

"Won'er why she charged." The boy turned to survey the hall before pulling his arrows free. They couldn't get a good look at his face since strawberry-blond hair shaded it, but he wasn't twisted or mutated like the splicers were.

"Who are you?" Zola stood up carefully.

He screamed, spun around, and fired an arrow from the dingy old crossbow gripped tightly in white knuckles. He missed horribly, but didn't shoot again when Zola held her hands up. She nodded and the others stood up as well. If he wasn't scared before, he certainly was now; not only was he outnumbered, but they could hear splicers headed their way.

"We don't want to hurt you, we just need some help." Zola made her way closer to him; careful not to move too fast and scare him off. "I don't know about you, but I can hear at least seven of them; and they're not that far off either, I'm not looking forward to having to fight them. Are you?"

"N-no, but… Zaf is goin'ta skin me." He muttered to himself before scurrying off down the hall. "Well, come on!"

It was a short run but the path so destroyed that they frequently had to stop, turn around, and find a new route. By the time they caught sight of a tall set of winding stairs they were all winded and bent over panting; Jiro was the worst as he had ended up carrying the irritated Sister. The boy let out a shrill whistle and a small head appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Well look who de-pie-ted to sh-ew up!" The girl was small, possibly only seven years old, and had an accent that impaired her speech. When she descended the stairs they saw that she too had the eerie eyes of a Sister. She nodded to the boy and the other Sister, "Bug, Elizabeth, nice o-af you to sh-ew up."

"Don't start with that Azami, I ain't no Bug. Go get Zaf 'er someone, we've got some on our tails." The boy huffed and slouched against the wall by the stairs; he pulled something from his pocket and struck a match.

"Why, so he c-in catch you smu-king again?" The child smiled back at him as she walked over to Jiro. "That's what, Elizabeth, the twe-vth Daddy you've managed to kill?"

Jiro let the Sister push out of his arms so she could stand next to the other girl. The contrast of her neat blond braids to the new girl's filthy black mess was a sight to behold; Azami looked like a wild-woman while Elizabeth seemed much more accustomed to the pleasures of life – such as bathing. They weren't off much in height, but Elizabeth cowered before Azami in the way a younger child would to an adult who is about to give them a rather lengthy lecture.

"Sorry," The blond kept her head down and allowed her Sister to lead her off. "But can I keep him instead? He's nice." She smiled and poked a little finger towards Jiro.

"You're kidding, right?" The boy butted in, "You don't know lick 'bout them and you even thinking 'bout what Lio and Zaf'll do once they find out you got caught?"

"Please Nat, I promise I'll take care of 'um!"

The boy, Nat, took a drag from the cigarette gripped between his lips before spitting it out into a nearby puddle. He leaned down and whispered something to Elizabeth and a smile snatched her face up from ear to ear. She excitedly ushered Azami back up the stairs, much to the girl's protests, and disappeared through a door under a bright neon sign.

"Keep me?" Jiro was puzzled, but the others seemed to be entertained by the notion of him following her around as a protector of sorts.

"Don't bother worrying about that, you've got more things on your plate. Like hoping Zaf don't shoot on sight." Nat carelessly flipped the string on his crossbow around. "Speaking of which, ya might not want to be standing there."

"Why?" Jiro raised an eyebrow at him.

"Take two steps forward…." Nat looked up at the ceiling, "Now!"

Jiro jumped out of the way as a person pile-drove where he had just been.

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**I know it took me a forever and then some to update, and I'm sorry. I'll try a bit harder with chapter four and I hope to get a lot done over Thanksgiving, but not much before then.**

**I just had my birthday not long ago, but I forgot to have a party…**

**This is a Rapture Reminder: The talk about the war is just propaganda; there is no safe house at the Kashmir restaurant. **


	4. What The Heck is Going on?

**I am starting to dislike this story and its path very much… I hated the last chapter, but I'm going to try and work off it anyway. There will probably be some on-the-fly changes made to characters and plot.**

**Everybody who likes this story should send a special "Thank You" to **_**Atomic Kokoro**_**, who got my sorry butt moving on this story again. Check out the story "The Blue Haired Angel and Incinerate Boy", other than being a bit short it's pretty good!**

**Also, "cad" is as close as I could find to a translation of "what" in Irish Gaelic.**

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The assailant didn't plan on Jiro moving out of the way; in fact, she seemed downright insulted that he did. She looked taken aback as she wobbled to her feet. When she stood solid, a blue glow shot down her arm to the tips of her fingers, where it leapt the three feet to Jiro's chest and sent him flying backwards.

There was a horrible screeching sound ringing in his ears, like someone dragging fistfuls of nails over a chalk board. He couldn't think straight and segments of thoughts shot through his mid, overlapping and making his head hurt worse. Old wounds reopened and bleed, burns surfaced on skin as sparks jumped, and he could hardly move. Trying to fight back, he managed to reach out and grab the nearest object and felt a slight prick.

…The screeching stopped…

…The pain was subdued…

…Then the world exploded

…Colors flashed in his eyes…

…His head spun…

Past the colors he could see an arm with a hand attached to the end; sticking out of the center of the palm was a needle, and from that was a vile attached to the end. It took a moment for Jiro to register that the arm and hand were his, and that the contents of the vile were gushing their way through his bloodstream. He had never liked shots and cried out as the feeling of the object under his skin reached his brain. The electrifying pain had gone and was replaced with heat

…More colors…

…More explosions…

…Faces looking down at him…

…People yelling…

…Crying…

…_Darkness…_

"He's in shock; his system's tryin' to reject the splice. I don't think he'll be waking up anytime soon," Nat said as sat back from examining Jiro. "Coarse, I ain't a doctor, so I can't tell if that's all that's wrong with him. 'Specially since we don' know what he got 'til he wakes up."

Shu, Kluke, Bouquet and Marumaro all sat on a small stage covered in old bottles and various other things as Zola stood nearby. It had been hours since Zaf, Nat's older brother, had helped them carry Jiro to where he now lay on the lower floor of the Kashmir restaurant, which doubled as an infirmary. At first the other shadow users had protested against any traditional medicine, each trying to heal their comrade with magic, but after they all failed the younger boy was allowed to inject him with a heavy dose of pain medication – the name of which none of them recognized.

"I'm glad your brother and his friends came along when they did," Kluke said.

"Yeah," Nat sighed. "Zaf's helpful for moving people. Used to work as a bouncer at some bar, had to throw people out all the time."

Zaf was at least six feet tall, spoke with a heavier accent, and didn't look much like his younger brother. He looked like he'd been blown up and stitched back together too many times to count, and the shotgun that didn't seem to ever leave his side looked the same. The way he fought earlier didn't suggest that he had any plasmids, but Nat explained that tonics and gene upgrades could be used like plasmids to "upgrade" a person, hence how even his muscles seemed to have muscles.

"What did you say her name was again?" Kluke asked, pointing at the Older Sister who attacked Jiro earlier.

"Lio. She's nice enough if you know her," Nat explained.

"I need to use the bathroom," Bouquet said.

"There's one upstairs, I'll show ya," Nat said and the two left.

The group sat in silence, they could hear Zaf and Lio arguing off in the corner, but they couldn't understand most of what they were saying. After Jiro had collapsed the splicers that had been following them showed up. It hadn't been a fair fight; the splicers were outfitted with plasmids even the Older Sister seemed unable to get around. On top of that there were enough so every time one went down, two more took its place. Zaf had shown up a few minutes into the fight with twenty people outfitted with guns and other weapons, but none had plasmids; the only plasmid wielder was Lio who couldn't do much without hitting someone on their side. At first there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the attack, just to weaken or kill everyone, but they realized – too little to late – that they had split them off into smaller groups and had them surrounded; Kluke, Shu, Bouquet, and Marumaro stuck by Jiro who was mostly ignored by the splicers since he was down for the count. Nat and Zaf had been yelling gibberish that no one could understand – the younger boy later explained that it was Gaelic – and charging here and there, trying to break through the walls of splicers.

Zola had seen some horrible things in her lifetime, but what the splicers did when they caught the two Little Sisters was ranked as the top two on her list. Because the girls were so small, no one noticed until it was too late that they had been caught. Lio tried to get to them, but her legs were frozen to the ground by one of the splicers, and the others couldn't get their attackers off them fast enough to make a break for it. Over all the noise, someone was screaming, but it began to sound wet and choked. The screaming was replaced with a high pitched screeching and someone was crying.

Through the wave of splicer bodies they could see one – covered in blood – that was holding a writhing object in his hands about twelve inches long which was making the screeching noise. A second splicer had one in her hands as well, and suddenly the focus of the other splicers' furry was directed on them. The two splicers ran from the others, clutching their prizes, and soon there wasn't a splicer in sight. On the ground where they had been were two unmoving lumps. In the moment of calm, with the imposing threat of the splicers gone, everyone took the time to check if all their pieces still attached.

A few people helped get Lio unstuck from the floor so she was able to stumble over to the lumps, cradling one in her lap; sobbing and cursing. Zola approached carefully, not wanting to startle the girl, and looked over her shoulder.

Elizabeth lay on the ground, unmoving, in a growing pool of her own blood. One of the splicers had – very sloppily – cut her from the top of her neck to her crotch and pried her open. Her ribs were in splinters and her lungs crushed. The rest of her insides were scattered around her and her attacker was lazy enough to leave their weapon of choice, a metal meat hook, stuck in her. She must have wet herself before they killed her because the stench of urine mixed with the blood and mold in the room to create an overpowering stench that sent Zola to her knees, heaving up everything in her stomach.

When she finished, the room was quiet, save for a wet _huu-huhh_ sound. Turning to Lio, she swallowed down another wave of bile at the sight of Azami, who lay in the older girl's arms. The Little Sister's abdomen was cut horizontally across her stomach instead o of vertically, a meat hook sat on the ground next to her, but unlike Elizabeth she was still trying to suck oxygen into her lungs, which sounded like they'd sprung a leak. Her organs weren't as spread as the other girl, they hung over her sides but were mostly still inside her, and she was bleeding considerably less.

The others had moved around them now, except for Kluke, who stayed with Jiro. Marumaro was crying along with Bouquet, both of them unable to look away. Shu gritted his teeth; suddenly the cut he'd gotten on his leg during the fight didn't hurt as bad. Zaf was talking quietly to Lio, trying to get her to let got of Azami. Nat, who had taken up higher ground during the fight, avoided them and went about helping Kluke with Jiro.

Azami's eyes were wide open, looking around frantically at all of their faces, never lingering for more than a second. Her body twitched continuously. Finally she seemed to calm down and the twitching slowed. Then her eyes slid closed, and she stopped moving completely. No words were said as Zaf ushered the shadow users away, distracting them with helping Jiro, but Lio stayed still. Finally, she got up and, after kissing both girls' foreheads, left them lying next to each other.

"I still can't believe we lived through that," Kluke sighed.

"Were those things the parasites Atlas told us about? The ones the doctors put in?" Shu wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Zola said and crossed the room to Zaf. "Excuse me?"

"Cad?" Zaf asked, irritated. "Sorry; what?"

"Now, we haven't been here very long, and no one's really bothered to sit down and explain what the _hell_ is going on around here, so would you kindly tell us?"

Lio scoffed, "You think we got everything laid out all nice 'n pretty for us when this whole thing started? What makes you so fucking special?"

"We want to help you, but we can't do anything if you don't tell us what's going on," Zola said to Zaf, ignoring the Sister completely and making her madder.

Before Lio could reply, Zaf gave her a look. "Go back to Steinman and get his bathysphere key. Take Johnson and O'Brien; if she's still alive, bring Nina back too."

Lio nodded, glared at Zola, and ran up the stairs.

"What do you need to know?" He asked as he followed Zola back to the others.

"Just start from the beginning please," Kluke said.

"When Rapture was founded, things were great. The changes were gradual at first, but after plasmids came on the market things began to be more obvious. Ryan, the founder of this place, boosted the security 'round his place and he 'n Fontaine, some business guy, started going at it. Pretty soon people started takin' sides and fights broke out. Plasmids, ADAM, and guns ran this place – still do – and innocent people started getting hurt in the crossfire.

"That's why we're here now; if ya ain't spliced enough to loose your mind, ya come here and you're safer then if ya were out there. Those nuts out there – the splicers – fall in one of two categories: Ryan or Fontaine.

"Ryan ain't to popular since Fontaine showed up, people say he's loosing his touch, but lots of folks stick with him. Mostly he works through his contacts to secure supporters; like this guy, Sander Cohen, who got all these people trapped in Fort Frolic and's some huge Ryan follower. I'm not sure, but Lio says there's some Sisters down there who're sworn to follow him; he calls them and a couple other people his "disciples" if you can believe that.

"Fontaine, now, he's the fella ya don't wanna piss off even if he's dead; he was a corrupt as corrupt can get. Died a while ago, but this guy calls himself Atlas, is suppos'ed ta be one'a Fontaine's biggest supporters. News from other areas is rare with Ryan in control of communications, but I heard that he's gotten hold of a black market plasmid and's been distributing it to his guys; that pissed Ryan off so he's passin' it out too, but I'm not to sure what it does… There's also a rumor goin' 'round that Atlas is tryin' to find a way to get topside, and there's more than enough folks down here who want out that'll back 'im."

"He sounds like he has the right idea," Zola said. "This place isn't safe; people should get out of here."

"If only it was that simple. Ya see, the people who he'd be getting out are his followers, who're spliced ta hell, and if 'ey get out it'll be a bloodbath. Both Atlas and Ryan are power-hungry political machines and each's gotta a mini-army of plasmid wielding drug addicts."

"But… if they couldn't get their fix," Kluke said; "would they still support them? Without ADAM, how would they make their plasmids work?"

"Actually, you might be on ta something. Those splicers that attacked earlier, some were Ryan and some were Atlas, but 'ey worked together to… ya know," Zaf said.

"So, ADAM drives them to work together, no matter what side they're on?" Shu asked.

"What if we gather up all the Sisters and don't let anybody get any ADAM?" Marumaro suggested. "We could take 'um all here 'n not let anybody get 'um!"

"Some lady tried that before, Doctor Tenenbaum I think, and it didn't end well. They over powered her defenses and started massacring them. She'd secured 'um all in separate rooms and had a ton'a Big Daddies patrolling the area, and 'ey managed to get through and harvested most'a 'um 'fore anyone realized what they were doin'."

"How did they manage that?" Zola asked.

"They got some new plasmid, called it "Hypnotize Big Daddy" and it basically does what its name says. The big guys who got hit with it thought the splicers were Sisters and left 'um alone, even went as far as to protect them!"

Kluke chewed her thumbnail in thought. "If that won't work then what if we–"

An explosion rocked the room and yells could be heard from the floor above.

* * *

**Well, I totally failed at getting this out in a reasonable amount of time and chapter five may take a while as well... At least it was sort'a long, five pages at least.**

**This is a Rapture Reminder: If you suspect anyone of having contacts with the Atlas, you should report them to Security Chief Sullivan immediately.**


	5. Time is of the Essence

**Sorry I had to take this down; I put it up right after I finished writing it so I didn't really do any editing. I fixed it up a bit, tried to make it more understandable, and I'd really appreciate it if you notice anything that's wrong or confusing while you're reading to take a moment and let me know. Thank you.**

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After a moment the noise died down. Before anyone could respond, Nat came stumbling back down the stairs. Blood was trickling down his face from a gash in his forehead and he seemed to be having trouble walking straight, but what caught Shu's attention was the radio he was clutching onto for dear life. Putting two and two together he took off running with the others in close pursuit. Only Kluke stayed behind with Jiro.

"What happened up there?" Kluke asked.

Nat stumbled over to her and sat down, cradling his head. "Splicers blew through the bathroom wall. No plasmid users, but they had grenades. I heard your friend screaming; went in 'n they chucked one at me. Tried to yell for help but they'd gone taken her 'n gone."

"Is she going to be alright? They won't hurt her, will they?"

"She-" he paused and dumped the radio in Kluke's hands. "She was talking to someone, on this. Have ya seen it before?"

"Maybe you just imagined hearing her and the splicers dropped it instead?" Kluke lied.

"You're prob'ly right; I must'a heard wrong, I couldn't even really tell what she was saying anyway..." Nat said. "Zaf 'n your friends've prob'ly got everybody out lookin' for her now. Might be a good idea to get your friend up."

"What's left that we haven't tried?" Kluke asked.

The younger boy wiped the blood off his face and moved over to Jiro. "I could give him a shot of adrenaline; it should jumpstart his system enough to put him on his feet."

* * *

"Where'd they take her?" Shu wondered. The bathroom was a mess, pieces of toilets and sinks were scattered to the entrance where he stood, but so far there wasn't any sign of Bouquet.

Zaf picked his way over the rubble with the shadow wielder behind. "Won't know till we find 'er. You lot stick with me, we'll go 'n scout. Neeker, Lacksly, Scotts; arm the others 'n stick close."

"We haven't got much time; whoever it was, they knew right were she was," Zola speculated.

"How'd ya figure?" Zaf asked.

"Look where they took out the wall. There's a catwalk directly adjacent to the stall she was in – since it's the only one here that's working, I'd suspect that's the one she used – and yet they took the extra time to plant the explosion somewhere it wouldn't kill her."

"Ye're right; no way this's random."

"The question is, why? Why would splicers work together to break in and kidnap Bouquet? Why not a full fledged assault? Why a grab-and-run?"

Pushing past Zaf, Zola crossed the catwalk and down a set of half-destroyed stairs. At the bottom were the remains of a gate, now blown to pieces, and a splicer laying face down. It was a man in a long coat that seemed to have been white at one point but was splattered with blood and singed. Using her foot, Zola rolled him over and put her sward to his throat.

"Dead; whatever they used to blow the gate must have gone off in his face," Zola said.

"Look't his scrubs 'n face mask. That insignia on 'is collar – the dolphin jumpin' out of a rose – that's Steinman's mark," Zaf said. "Bet you anythin' he's got her on route to his lab. If we want ta get there 'fore they kill 'er, we gotta move now."

"Right; everyone stick close!" Zola beckoned the others to follow as she tailed Zaf.

Shu and Marumaro hurried to catch up; Neeker, Lacksly and Scotts ran along side them with some other survivors at their sides – the three leaders stood out by their amazing size and the powerful plasmids they wielded – taking care of any splicers trying to flank them. For some reason Lacksly stopped after a few minutes of running and turned back, calling for a small group to branch off and cover him. Marumaro caught a glimpse of him as he ran back and saw him ducking behind cover to avoid incoming shots. The young shadow-wielder stopped his own running to follow Lacksly as well.

"Saber Tiger, give them cover, maro!" Marumaro called to his shadow, who lashed out at the splicers trying to overtake Lacksly.

"What the hell?" It took Lacksly and his team of survivors a moment to realize the giant saber-toothed tiger was on their side.

"We cover; maro! You do what you do!" Marumaro said as he crouched next to the shocked survivors.

"Sure, uh, thing… kid?" Lacksly said, unsure of what his ally was. "You heard, uh, him; he's are cover, so start blasting 'um back!"

* * *

"Are you sure this will work? You've given him three shots so far and he hasn't done anything more than twitch," Kluke said.

"Like I said earlier, his body doesn't like the plasmid trying to rewrite his genetic code, so all his functions'll be slowed down," Nat said as he injected another shot of adrenaline into Jiro's wrist.

"Then do you think you should keep sticking him with those?" Kluke asked.

"Look, would you rather I give him an EVE hypo? That might, _might_, just override his nervous system and trick it into letting the plasmid finish its work."

"What happens if it doesn't work?"

"He'd prob'ly get sick a lot."

"No pain no gain; go ahead and try."

Nat hurried up the stairs and returned with one of the luminescent blue syringes. Clumsily he stuck the thick needle into Jiro's wrist where he'd previously been administering adrenaline. Pushing down on the pump, they watched as his veins pulsed the same color as the drug for a moment before it spread farther about in his bloodstream. There didn't seem to be any change, Jiro's body still twitched uncontrollably from the amount of adrenaline in his system, but he didn't make any signs that he was going to be ill either.

"Did it work?" Kluke asked hesitantly.

Nat only shrugged in response.

After a moment Jiro's twitching had gotten worse and beads of sweat began running down his face. The veins in his arm around where Nat had given him the injection and become a dark red and the skin seemed to be becoming more tanned as well. His eyes still shut, he reached out and latched on to the skirts of Kluke's dress and squeezed them tightly. She tried to wipe his brow with a mostly clean rag, but he jerked his head away each time. Taking this as a sign of consciousness, Nat tried to get him talking.

"How're ya feeling?" He tried; Jiro responded by turning his head away once more. "Come on, now. We can't help you if you don' tell us what's wrong."

"H-hot… Burning…" Jiro finally croaked out.

Kluke pressed her hand to his forehead and quickly pulled it back. "You are burning! I've never seen someone break into such a severe fever so quickly before."

Just then, there came unintelligible shouting from the floor above. They passed it off as some of the survivors having returned.

"Can we move him somewhere he'll be colder?"

"Could try the kitchen. It's got a freezer big 'nough to fit a person," Nat said.

Together they hooked their arms under Jiro's and stood carefully. Kluke was about the same height as him, but Nat was short enough that his legs didn't fully support him and they ended up dragging him across the floor. The kitchen door made a loud crash when Nat kicked it open to reveal the destroyed room. Most anything that could be eaten or used as a weapon had already been looted and the only things left were pots, plates and spoons. Behind a wall that separated the cooking area from the back was a wall of freezers with large doors; from there they were concealed from anyone who would have walked through the door to look in.

Opening one of the freezer doors, they set Jiro down so he propped up and half in the freezer itself. "Tha' should be good."

"Do you smell something?" Kluke asked as she kneeled next to Jiro, who still hadn't released his hold on her dress.

"Kind'a smells like somethin's burning."

A small plume of smoke curled past Kluke's face and she followed it down to its source: her skirt. In shock, she smacked Jiro's hand – which hurt from how hot it was getting – and made him release. Where he had been holding on the skirt had begun smoldering and part crumbled away into ash when she brushed it.

Even though he wasn't holding on anymore, Jiro's hand still stayed in the curled form it had been as though he couldn't move it. All along his arms his skin had risen around his veins and gotten much darker and almost crumbly like the skirt. His veins seemed to grow thicker and pulse more violently then before as well. The part of him that was in the freezer was brushing against a block of ice and water could be seen trickling down his arm before evaporating into steam. His eyes were open and franticly darting every which way.

They all nearly jumped out of their skins when someone knocked at the kitchen door. "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll bash your skulls in!"

Reaching out, Kluke grabbed a metal ladle that someone had left behind, and inched her way to the corner. She counted the person's footsteps as they crept, very un-stealthily, towards the freezers. When the tip of a beak poked around the corner, followed by the masked face, she brought her weapon down hard. There was a resonating clang and the splicer fell to the ground gripping his head, a metal pipe clattering to the floor next to him. Unsure of what to do, Kluke grabbed the pipe and tossed it to Nat.

"What'd ya want _me_ ta do with it? You're the one that hit him, you finish it!" The boy panicked and threw the pipe back.

Marching over to him, she forced the pipe into his hands. "And you've lived here longer so you have more experience with this type of thing. I've never actually _killed_ a person before and I don't think I should start now."

The two continued to bicker, forcing the pipe back and forth between them, and Jiro could almost form a laugh through chapped lips at the way they were behaving. He noticed the splicer realize he wasn't dead and spring to his feet, creeping slowly up on the two. Unable to speak, Jiro forced his arm up in a weak sort of point, but neither Kluke nor Nat noticed. The splicer was closer, picking up a sharp piece of tile and holding it like a knife, and still he went unnoticed. Bringing his arm back, Jiro flicked his wrist like he was holding a whip to try and get the others' attention, but something else happened instead.

"HOLY SHIT! IT'S BURNING! IT'S BURNING!" The splicer dropped his weapon and stumbled back, as flames crackled across his body. There were a few seconds of screaming as he ran from the room, followed by the thump of his charred body hitting the ground.

Kluke and Nat turned slowly to look at Jiro, who looked both shocked and mildly amused. "I thought for sure he would have known that the wolf never wins."

* * *

**The plasmid Jiro has is the Incinerate plasmid. But this plasmid has three levels of strength. **

**The first level would cause his hand and wrist to glow and would leave little bits of burned flesh. **

**The second would be a brighter glow with more severe burns and his pointer finger and thumb would have flames coming off them. **

**And the third version has his whole hand and wrist covered in severe burns while the flames at the tips of his fingers glow blue. **

**I guess that means Jiro got version 2.5 since he doesn't have the blue fire, but he still gets the bad burns which run farther up than just his wrist.**

**This is a Rapture Reminder: The testing of the Incinerate! plasmid has shown to have "explosive" side effects on the user. All test subjects will be returned to their families as soon as we sort out which parts go to which subject.**


End file.
